It’s a New Year: Refresh Your Communications

“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await another voice.”- Little Gidding II

Welcome to 2011! Don’t you just love a fresh slate? The New Year brings with it tons of promise for your business or non-profit. It can be a time of reinvention and bright ideas, especially when it comes to marketing.

Throw away your old “business as usual,” thinking and stop hoping that the same messages you’ve been sending out for years will resonate with your audience.

It is time for a new perspective.

Chances are you won’t need to revamp your communications strategy as much as you think, so don’t panic. You probably just need a fresh way of delivering your message.

Before you jump into anything drastic, we suggest you start with an assessment of your past marketing materials.

Begin with an evaluation of your communications pieces including brochures, newsletters, flyers, annual reports, your website, social media accounts, e-newsletters and the like.

Pull out all of the materials that you have created for the past three years and spread them out in front of you.

Ask yourself:

• Are they remarkable* or are they average?
• Are they consistent with your brand and the image you want to portray in the community?
• Are they branded across formats?
• Is your content focused? Is the message clear?
• Are you cross-promoting using multiple platforms?
• Are your strategies achieving your goals?

Once you honestly evaluate your materials, you should be able to note where your strengths and weaknesses lie.  Can you tell  your story differently? Do you need to redesign a key collateral piece or work to brand all of the pieces together?

Don’t miss this opportunity to re-evaluate. January is the perfect time to get focused, get creative and refresh your communications!